A baby orca was born off the coast of Seattle, and researchers suggest that the mother had some help from her peers: orca midwives. The baby orca has bite marks on it that suggest that other orcas helped pull it out of the womb; further, the orca who is currently the "acting" mother (taking care of the baby) is far older than most reproductively active orcas. She may well be helping out the true mother (and her daughter) by babysitting the new calf until the mother can recover from the difficult birth.

More directly relevant is a heart-wrenching anecdote that indicates that orcas have a rich understanding of birth (thus making the idea of orca midwivery even less far-fetched). I've written about it previously, but here's the text:

"...an early marine center in Florida housed a killer whale couple which finally became pregnant after many unsuccessful tries. About 11 months into the pregnancy, the father — as was customary for him — ran his nose along the mother’s belly, emitting high-frequency clicks. Suddenly he froze in the water, then swam pell-mell against the side of the pool, repeatedly smashing his head against the wall, and later became apathetic and melancholy. After a few days, their baby emerged stillborn.

The best explanation is sort of amazing: The killer whale father performed regular sonograms to check on his baby, realized it was no longer alive and sank into self-destructive depression."

It is dangerous to rely on anecdotes, but this one falls in line with a wealth of research indicating that orcas are Einsteins of the animal kingdom. As the literature shows, they are sometimes cruel and alien, and sometimes heart-wrenchingly human. But they are unquestionably intelligent.

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Orca experts say it is possible that one or more orcas acted as midwives during the birth of a calf last week.
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On Thursday, Balcomb is questioning whether J16, which has been seen swimming with baby, is the actual mother. He explained that J16 is approximately 43 years old, which is beyond the normal age of a productive female killer whale.
Balcomb said it's possible the real mother may be J16's daughter, J36.
He also said bite marks on the baby indicate another orca may have helped deliver the baby by pulling it out of the womb with its teeth. He and other researchers believe J16 may be the orca midwife and grandmother to the new orca. Balcomb said J16 may be helping her daughter recover from a difficult birth by babysitting J50.